Dancing Figures

Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
A dancer and writer himself, Richard Bruce Nugent had a deep affinity for the expressive possibilities of the human body in motion. In this striking image, he depicted dancers and plants as flat, stylized forms rendered in black silhouettes. In the mid-1920s, several Harlem Renaissance artists embraced an Art Deco silhouette aesthetic while evoking an African mythological past. As suggested in a verse of Nugent’s poem “Shadow” (1925), the silhouette also had personal significance for the artist, who was African American and openly gay:
Silhouette
A silhouette am I
On the face of the moon
Lacking color
Or vivid brightness
But defined all the clearer
Because I am dark
Black on the face of the moon
Caption
Richard Bruce Nugent American, 1906–1987. Dancing Figures, ca. 1935. Black ink and graphite on moderately thick, moderately textured, cream colored wove paper, 14 3/4 x 10 1/2 in. (37.5 x 26.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. Thomas H. Wirth, gift of Frederick J. Adler, by exchange, bequest of Richard J. Kempe, by exchange, and gift of Abraham Walkowitz, by exchange, 2008.50.6. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008.50.6_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Dancing Figures
Date
ca. 1935
Medium
Black ink and graphite on moderately thick, moderately textured, cream colored wove paper
Classification
Dimensions
14 3/4 x 10 1/2 in. (37.5 x 26.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Thomas H. Wirth, gift of Frederick J. Adler, by exchange, bequest of Richard J. Kempe, by exchange, and gift of Abraham Walkowitz, by exchange
Accession Number
2008.50.6
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
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